Local leaders responded angrily Sunday to a senior IDF commander’s
claim that Yitzhar residents are increasing conflict in Samaria
(Shomron). The town’s security team had its power to respond to
violent incidents curtailed in response, and many team members had
their weapons confiscated.

Samaria Regional Council head Gershon Mesika said it is the IDF that
has responded inappropriately to Palestinian Authority violence, by
failing to fight it effectively.

“Senior commanders are acting as cowards in the face of Arab violence
in Judea and Samaria,” he accused. “They tremble like a leaf over the
extreme Left’s slander.”

“Their cowardly, toothless response to far-left and Arab riots in the
Yitzhar area is what is leading to conflict,” Mesika
continued. “These riots could have been nipped in the bud, but
certain senior commanders are tough only when it comes to Yitzhar’s
security force – the members of which risked their lives to prevent
an infiltration and an arson attack on homes.”

The senior commander who detailed accusations against the Yitzhar
team mentioned the case of a PA Arab man who was shot and wounded by
the team, then beaten by local youth. The PA man had been carrying a
knife, the commander noted, and had smashed his cell phone in an
attempt to demolish it after being shot.